Folding partition.



e. w. URMSON.

FOLDING PARTITION.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 24, I9I5. 1,230,345. Patented June 19, 1917.

Q 2 SHEETS-SI-IEET I.

G. W. URMSON.

FOLDING PARTITION.

APPUCATION FILED NOV 24.1915.

Patented June 19, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 nve'nfo'a 6M WW;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. UBMSON, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW J EBSEY, ASSIGNOR '10 GRACE M.ALBERTS, OF J EBSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

FOLDING PARTITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon W. URMSON, a subject of the King of England,residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Partitions,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to folding partitions, and has for one of itsobjects to provide suchpartitions with adjustable jambs wherebyallowance may be made for swelling a'nd shrinkage of the wooden sectionsof the partition in order to always insure the proper closing orextension of said partition. Heretofore, the swelling of the sectionshas prevented them from being fully extended into line, at least onepair of the hinged sections being left buckled or projecting laterallyfrom the line, while if allowance is made for swelling, the sectionswill not completely fill the opening when the wood shrinks. tion, Iprovide jambs which may be retracted when the wooden sections of thepartition are swollen, and which may be extended when the sectionsshrink, so that a precise fit of the partition between the jambs mayalways be had.

Other objects are to provide improved means for retaining the sectionsin extended position until the adjacent ones nearer the hinge jamb arefolded, and for holding the sections, when folded, against being movedaway from the hinge jamb except in the proper order as they areextended. Further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention will be first hereinafter described in connection with theaccompany- To overcome this condispring latch on the ceilin titionsections in folded position, the sec tion being taken through the screwwhich removably holds the jamb in position, and also through thesupporting pins for the filling plates.

Fig. 4 is a detailed face view of one of the filling plates. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section of the other amb and a portion,of the partitionsection which engages the same when the partition is extended.

Fig. 6 is a broken side view, partly in section, of the hinge jamb andthe partition section which is directly hinged thereto, showing thedetachable hinge connections at the top and bottom of the section.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the upper end portion of the inner edgeof the hinged section, showing the opening for the introduction of aninstrument for withdrawing or retracting the spring pressed hinge P111.

Fig. 8 is a detailed -view of the upper edge portion of one of thepartition sections and the ceiling strip, showing the spring pressedlatch carried by said strip for holding the sections in extendedposition until those nearer the hinge jamb have been folded and thesections in question have been moved up against said folded sections,the notch in the upper edge of the section which permits the same to befolded when moved to that position being also illustrated in-thisfigure. I

Fig. 9' is a transverse vertical section through the upper edge of thedoor and ceiling strip, showing the guide pin and slot, and one of theupper p ns and catches for holding the sections of the partition folded,as well as the spring pressed latch illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an elevation of a portion of the partition, showing one pairof sections folded and the next pair moved up against them so as tobring the notch in the upper edge of the next section in line with thestrip for permitting said next pair 0 sectlons to be folded.

Fig. 11 is an upper edge view of the partition in folded position,showing one of the upper catches for holding said sections in thatposition, and

Fig. 12 is a detailed transverse section through the slotted floorplate, showing one partition of the combined supports and guides for thesections of the partition.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the adjustablehinge jamb, that is the jamb to which the adjacent section of thepartition is hinged, and 2 is the opposite jamb against which thesection of the partition farthest removed from the hinged one is adaptedto fit when the partition is extended. The ceiling strip which fits atthe tops of the sections'of the partition is indicated at 3, and theeight sections of the partition shown are designated 4, 5, 6, 7, s, 9,10 and 11.

The adjustable hinge jamb 1 is detachably connected to the permanentjamb strip 12 by means of a screw 13, of which there may be any desirednumber suitably spaced apart from the bottom to the top of the jamb. Thejamb 1 is arranged between molding strips 14 which are secured to plates15 by screws 16, while said plates are fastened to the jamb strip 12 byscrew 17. It will be understood that as many of the plates 15 as arenecessary or desirable may be used, preferably the same number as thereare screws 13 being employed, one of said screws passing through thecentral portion of each plate. The plates 15 have outwardly projectingpins 18 which engage correspondingly shaped sockets 19 in the inner faceof the jamb 1. These pins 18 serve to support a variable number offilling plates'2U, each of which has a central openin 22 for the passageof the screw 13, and ot er passages 21 to fit over said pins 18, seeFigs. 3 and 4. By- =varying the number of the filling plates 20 placedbetween the plates 15 and the jamb 1, said jamb may be retracted orprojected to a sufficient extent to counteract any swelling or shrinkageof the partition, so as to always insure the complete closing and properfit of the partition when extended as shown in Fig. 1. The jamb 2, Fig.5, may be adjusted in a similar manner'with respect to the permanentjamb strip 120 by means of screws 130 and a variable number of thefilling plates 20.

The outer face of the jamb 1 is concave, as at 23 to provide a close fitwith the rounded or convex inner edge 24 of the partition section 4which is detachably hinged to the j amb 1 so that it may be taken ofi topermit access to the screws 13 when it is desired to change the numberof filling plates 20 between the jamb 1 and the plate 15. As illustratedbest in Figs. 6 and 7, the detachable hinge connection between thesection 4 of the partition and the adjustable jamb 1 comprises straps orplates 25 secured to the upper and lower end portions of said jamb, andspring pressed hinged ins 26 carried by the upper and lower en s of saidsection 4. Springs 27 normally hold the pins 26 projected so as toengage suitable openings in nasoneo the straps 25. The pins 26 havelateral projections '28 arranged in passages 29 opening on the innerrounded edge 24 of the section 4. When the section 4 is folded, asillustrated in Fig. 3, the pins 26 may be withdrawn from engagement withthe straps 25 by inserting a suitable instrument, such as a nail, intothe passages 29 and thereby forcing the projections 28 toward thesprings 27.

The sections of the partition are hinged together in pairs by hinges 30,31, 32 and 33, see Figs. 2 and 11. The free or unhinged edges of all ofthe sections of the partition except the section 4 which ishingeddirectly to the jamb 1, are guided along the ceiling strip and floor bysuitable hangers, such as the I-shaped guides 36 extending through theslot 37 in'the ceiling strip 3, as shown in Fig. 9, and the combinedcaster roller 38 and guide 39 shown in Fig. 12. This combined caster andguide, as used on the bottom corners of the free edges of the partitionsec. tions, is preferably made as described in my allowed applicationfiled September 8, 1915, Ser. No. 49,551. The guide 39 extends into theslot 40 in the fioor plate 41, as will be readily understood.

It is desirable to retain the partition sections in extended positionuntil each pair in turn is mt ved over against the hinge jamb 1, and tofold each pair of such sections separately and successively beginningwith the pair of sections 4 and 5 which are hinged directlyto the jamb 1. To accomplish these ends, moldings 42 and 420 are fastened to theceiling strip 3 at either side of the slot 37, but the molding 42 on theside at which the hinged edges of the partition sections must project,is terminated at 43, Figs. 1 and 10, at a point near the meeting edgesof the sections 5 and 6 when the partition is extended.

A depending latch 44 is carried by the ceiling strip and is arranged inline with a notch or transverse groove 46 in the section 5 when thesections 4 and 5 are extended as shown in Fig. 1. These sections may,therefore, be folded because the groove or notch 46 will allow for theescapement of the latch 44. As the sections 4 and 5 are folded to theposition shown in Fig. 10, the upper free corner of the section 5 willpass under the latch 44 and automatically displace said latch owing tothe curved form of its projecting end as illustrated in Fig. 8. As soonas the latch is released, it will be forced down again into projectedposition by the spring 45.

After the first pair of partition sections 4 and 5 have been folded, theremaining sections are moved toward them until projecting catches 48 and50, which are mounted respectively on the upper and lower corners of thesection 6, come in contact with stop plates 34 and 35 on the section 5.The notch or groove 46 in. the section 6 will then be in line with thelatch 44, as shown in Fig. 10, and the section 7 will be past the end 43of the molding 42, so that the second pair of sections 6 and 7 may befolded against the first pair, as indicated in Fig. 11. It may be herenoted that the upper corners of the free ends of the partition sectionsare cut away, as at 47 Fig. 11, on curved lines concentric with theguides 36, in order to permit said corners to escape the molding 420which extends the full length of the ceiling strip.

As the sections 6 and 7 are folded from the position shown in Fig. 10 tothat shown in Figs. 3 and 11, the catches 48 are brought into engagementwith pins 49 on the molding 420, and the catches 50 are likewise broughtinto engagement with pins 51 on the floor. It will be understood thateach successive pair of partition sectionsis folded in. the mannerdescribed and that each pair of sections is provided with catches 48 and50 which engage pins 49 and 51 suitably placed along the molding 420 andthe floor to retain said sections when folded from being moved outwardor away from the jamb 1 without being successivel extended in thereverse order from that in which they were folded.

The meeting edges of the partition sections are preferably provided withinterengaging tongues 52 and grooves 53 to prevent sight being hadthrough the joints when the partition is extended. The j amb 2 ispreferably provided with a tongue 54 similar to the tongues 52 on thepartition sections, said tongue 54 being engaged with the groove 53 inthe section 11, asshown in Fig. 5, when the partition is extended. Itwill be noted that the catches 48 and 50 are carried by only one sectionof'each pair. Sockets 56 are provided in the adjacent sections forhousing the catches 50 when the sections are extended, see Fig. 3. Thecatches 48 are offset so as to overlap the edges of the adjacentsections.

One or more of the sections of the partition may be fitted with a door55, as shown in the section 10, Figs. 1 and 2. vAny desired number ofthe sections may also be equipped with black-boards when the partitionsare to be used in school rooms. It is obvious that other modificationsmay be made without departing from my invention, and I therefore reservethe right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a folding partition comprising sections hingedtogether in separate pairs, of means for guiding the free ends of saidsections along the line into which the partition is designed to beextended, a catch projecting from the edge of one section of each pairand arranged within the planes of the sides of said section, there beingcavities in the edges of the ad acent sections for housing said catcheswhen the sections are extended, and fixed pins so positioned as to beengaged bv said catches when the sections are folded for preventing themfrom being moved along the line of extension until they are unfolded.

2. The combination with a folding. partition comprising sections hingedtogether in separate pairs, of means for guiding the free ends of saidsections along the line into which the partition is designed to'beextended, a catch projecting from the edge of one section of each pairand arranged within the planes of the sides of said section, a stopplate on the face of the other section of each pair to be engaged by thecatch on the next pair of sections after the first pair of sec.- tionshas been folded and the second pair is moved up to it, and fixed pins sopositioned as to be engaged bysaid catches when the sections are foldedfor preventing said sections from being moved along the line ofextension until-they are unfolded.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE w. URMSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Pateutu,

Washington, D. 0.

